Okay, let's see what I can squeeze into one post.
First on Goats:
From NRI – In the field (a collaboration of the National Resources Institute (Greenwich University, UK) with BBC world service)
[url="http://www.nri.org/InTheField/india_goat.htm"]Goats in India.[/url]
Especially the two last paragraphs are of interest:
Global relevance
Goats have a bad reputation for doing environmental damage round the world. They are, literally, regarded as scapegoats for poor environments. This is unfair, says Conroy. They live on bad lands because they can survive them better than cows or buffaloes. Goats follow environmental degradation, rather than causing it.
But they are a vital resource for many poor villagers, who must also often suffer being shunted onto the poorest land. Far from shunning such people and their animals, says Conroy, there is a need to help them do better in their hostile environments.
Thinking points
* Goats are not environmental pariahs, and they are often vital to the livelihoods of the poorest people.
* Don't disregard "weeds" -- even weeds from foreign lands. They could be a new resource rather than a menace.
* Farmers are often as good at innovation as researchers. Collaboration in the village often works best.
From the [url="http://www.virtualcentre.org/en/dec/toolbox/Index.htm"]
Livestock & environment toolbox[/url], LEAD, a cooperation between NRI and other institutions, supported by the EU & the FAO.
The full page can be found [url="http://www.virtualcentre.org/en/dec/toolbox/Mixed1/FeedChar.htm"]here[/url].
Goats are often “scapegoats”, considered to be responsible for environmental degradation. Goats do reduce the regeneration of bush and tree vegetation through browsing seedlings. However, under free grazing they will not eliminate adult shrubs and trees. If degradation appears, then it is often due to a combination of deforestation, crop cultivation and inapropriate grazing practices. Goats are often still around when degradation appears and are as a result blamed for it. Efforts in Namibia to reduce a standing shrub vegetation on a pasture for cattle by intensive browsing by goats failed. It only stopped further bush encroachment. Similar results were obtained in trials in Tanzania. In this example, in a block of savannah that had been “grazed” by goats for five years, mature shrubs and trees had survived but no further encroachment had taken place.
In the case of reforestation reforestation and tree planting, goats can cause considerable damage and measures are required to keep goats under control (i.e. tethering) or to protect the seedlings against browsing (i.e. branches of thorn bushes). A ban on goat or other livestock is often counter-productive. Farmers’ participation in reforestation or tree planting in general requires short-term returns. One of the most feasible options is to pass on to them well regulated rights to harvest tree leaves and cover vegetation for their goats or other livestock. On farm research in Indonesia on the island of Bali so resulted in a successful land rehabilitation system based on three strata of plant-shrub-tree vegetation on the boarder of fields in combination with the keeping of goats (smaller farms) or Bali cattle (larger farms). Shrubs and trees protect the soil against erosion and provide fodder for animals producing manure for crop cultivation and income through sales. Branches are firewood for home consumption and sales. In many other agro forestry, alley and mixed farming systems, shrubs and trees play similar roles in combination with livestock.
And from a goatlovers' (
) site: [url="http://www.kountrylife.com/articles/about_goats.htm"]All about goats[/url]
What follows now are quotes & articles from the sites of a group of research institutes known as CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research). It is a group of 15 research institutes maily specialised in Tropical & Subtropical Agriculture, supported by a majority of countries of the world and several UN agencies. Part of my work on my MSc's thesis involved working as an intern at one of them (the IITA).
ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas)
[url="http://www.icarda.org/Publications/Caravan/caravan16/focus/goats.htm"]Goats, or Scapegoats for Desertification[/url] (in Peru). Gives a specific case were goats are being used as scapegoats for desertification. Important reflection on the link to social status of the goatkeepers.
From [url="http://www.icarda.cgiar.org/publications/caravan/caravan22/focus%5F3.htm"]this article[/url]:
The WANA [Western Asia & Northern Africa] region is endowed with a rich genetic diversity of small ruminants. This consists of various breeds of sheep and goats which are adapted to a range of arid and semi-arid environmental conditions. Other than camels, sheep and goats are the only domestic species whose produce currently makes an important economic contribution under the marginal conditions of the dry areas of WANA and, as a result, offers farmers opportunities to enhance their diet and generate income. This region is subject to water scarcity and fluctuations in rainfall, which often lead to severe, recurring droughts. Under these marginal conditions, sheep and goats are the most important domestic species and are an integral component of the area's agricultural production systems. Because of this, small ruminant production has been part of ICARDA's research agenda for more than 20 years.
Concerning animal fodder in dry areas: [url="http://www.icarda.cgiar.org/mmproject/st%5Ffeedblock.htm"]Feed blocks[/url]
ICARDA's [url="http://www.icarda.cgiar.org/mmproject/foreword.htm"]foreword[/url] to one of its projects does not deny the fact that there is overgrazing but it's all in the details: location, who causes the overstocking, what system is used etc. One needs to find creative solutions that help the rural poor while maintaining a sustainable level of exploitation, and preferable give them a stake in maintaining a environmental balance.
Some interesting links from ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute)
[url="http://www.ilri.cgiar.org/data/Newshilight/FromPoorToWell-Off.asp"]Livestock & poverty[/url]
[url="http://www.ilri.cgiar.org/research/Index.asp?SID=6"]People, livestock and the environment[/url]
[url="http://ilrinet.ilri.cgiar.org/inrm/InvestingFeb2006.pdf"]Study on integrated water-crop-livestock production[/url]
And to show that
They either feed on foodstuffs that could have been eaten by humans, or they graze (and usually over-graze)on what is left of the natural vegetation. is a misleading statement the following quotes
From ICRISAT (International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics)
[url="http://www.icrisat.org/gt-aes/ResearchBreifs12.htm"]Crop livestock interactive systems[/url]
Of all the farming systems in the WCA [West & Central Africa] region, crop-livestock integrated systems are believed to have the highest potential for increasing productivity in a sustainable manner. Crop and livestock enterprises are closely related, and with increasing agricultural intensification, higher productivity from these systems, without jeopardizing the natural base, is essential. As no crop or livestock species is treated in isolation from other components of the system, it was recognized that component research on crops, livestock and soils have to be integrated so as to understand and address the needs of farmers within the “whole farming system”.
From IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture)
[url="http://www.iita.org/crop/farmsys.htm"]Crop-livestock systems[/url]
Successful crop-livestock systems provide fodder for animals as a byproduct of the harvest or from the cover crop, while the animals provide much needed organic inputs for the soil, in the form of manure. IITA collaborates with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) on research to improve these systems in sub-Saharan Africa. An example of this collaborative work is the development of "dual-purpose" cowpea varieties, that provide nutritious grain for humans as well as good quality fodder, while at the same time improving the soil and suppressing weeds. Another recent finding is improved strip cropping of cereals and cowpea, where 2 rows cereal : 4 rows cowpea gave up to 300% better returns than the traditional 1 row : 1 row system. This was found ideal for crop-livestock integration, and feeding of residues from the improved system resulted in higher weight gain in sheep.
And lastly on desertification:
[url="http://www.cgiar.org/desertification/index.html"]CGIAR[/url]
[url="http://www.ciesin.org/docs/002-193/002-193.html"]A study on desertification[/url] I stumbled on.
[url="http://www.unccd.int/"]UNCCD[/url] (United Nations - Convention to Combat Desertification)
I didn't go in depth in these sites but it is clear that desertification is caused by a complex range of factors and that "goats" is not mentioned as such.
